Time switch



April 18, 1939. J MCCARROL- E L TIME SWITCH 1 Filed Sept. 24, 1956 Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED "STATES TIME SWITCH lnlnea McOarroLToronto, Ontario. and Leonard K. Cheswrlght, Swansea, Ontario, Canada Application Samba 24, 1988, Serial No. 102,294

l Galina. (CL 20,-30)

This invention relates to time switches. and the object oi our invention is to devise a simple switch which will make and break an electrical connection at predetermined times and which may be applied to a clock of standard construction.

We achieve our object by means of two camlike contact members adapted to engage contact fingers for respectively making and breaking the circuit. The contact members are rotated by the clock mechanism and are adjustable relative to one another and the clock mechanism for setting to make and break at the desired time. The switch mechanism is adapted to be quickly and easily applied to a clock oi standard construction without altering the mechanism of the clock.

Our invention is hereinafter more particularly described and is illustrated in the enclosed drawing in which Fig. 1 is a rearview of a clock with our switch mechanism applied thereto;

.Fig. 2 a side elevation;

Fig. 3 a side perspective view of the plate upon which the switch is mounted;

Fig. 4 a cross section on an enlarged scale of the switch mechanism on the line 4-4 in Fig. l, partly broken away; I

Fig. 5 a plan view of the "break" contact member, showing the contact finger about to engage Fig. 6 a plan view of the "break" contact member showing the contact finger immediately after contact has been broken;

Fig. 7 a plan view of the make" cam showing 85 the contact finger about to make the contact;

Fig. 8 a side elevation of a modified form 01' contact member and contact finger; and

Fig. 9 a side view of the centre arbor of the clock with the pinion in position to be mounted d0 thereon.

In the drawing like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

The switch mechanism is mounted on a plate 5 "I provided with spring fingers ll adapted to extend between the inner and outer casing of an alarm clock l2 of standard design, or to otherwise detachably engag the exterior of a clock.

The plate Ill is provided with openings as shown in Fig. 1, through which the winding stem it may pass, and through which the handsetting shaft I4, speed adjusting lever It, and the centr arbor it are accessible.

I Secured to the plate II and extending at right 55 angles thereto is a fixed shaft l I having thereon a rotatable sleeve ll of insulating material. The base I of the sleeve II is enlarged and forms a shoulder. A geared wheel or disc I! is mounted on the sleeve II and bears against the shoulder. The disc is is keyed or otherwise fixed relative to lthe sleeve ll.

A cam-like contact member" of brass or similar conducting material is rotatably mounted on the sleeve ll above the disc I! and is separated therefrom by a disc 22 of insulating material. A hub 20'' extends from the outer side oi the contact member 20 and rotatably mounted on this hub is another contact member 2|. The contact members 20 and 2| are of reduced diameter for substantially one-half of their periphery.

Keyed to the hub 20 of the contact member 2| is a disc 28 of insulating material, and keyed to the contact member 2i is a disc 24 of insulating material.

The outer end ll" of the sleeve II is threaded other and the disc l9, whereby they may be manu- Y ally adjusted relative to one another, but normally move in unison.

The outer end of the shaft I1 is threaded to receive a cap 28 which retains the switch mechanism above described on the'shai't.

A pinion 29 is fitted over the centre arbor it and is rotatable by the clock mechanism. The pinion 29 meshes with the disc I! causing it to rotate in synchronism with the clock work. The gearing is such that the disc I! and hence the 0 dial 2! will rotate once in every 12 hours or once in every 24 hours.- The time indicia on the dial 2! represents the hours of one to twelve or one to twenty-four and the dial 2! is mounted in a predetermined position corresponding to the 0 actual time of the day, e. g. as shown in Fig. l the time indicia 24 is above the longitudinal axis of the shaft l1 and on the v ertical axis of thedial 25 at twelve o'clock noon. The setting of the dial is usually made relative to the time indicated 30 by the clock to which the device is attached, but it may be set by any other clock.

The discs 23 and 24 are provided with pointers III and ii respectively which extend around the edge of the dial 2! and point to the time indicia I.

completed between the contact fingers.

thereon. These pointers may be grasped to rotate the contact members 2| and 2! respectively relative to the disc II for adjusting the time of making and breaking of the'cidcuit. Contact member 2| is the break contact member and if it is desired to break the contact at twelve noon the pointer 3| is rotated until it is opposite the number twelve on the dial 2|, as in mg. 1. The contact member 2| is the make contact member and if it is desired to make the contact at twelve midnight the pointer ll is moved until it is opposite the number twenty-four on the dial 2|, as in Fig. l. The member 32 is merely a handie for turning the break contact member when the pointer II is beneath the pointer Ii.

The actual contact is made with two resilient contact fingers 32 and 24 which are secured to a lug 25 which is secured to the plate l|. tact fingers are positioned so that they are engaged by the part of the periphery of the contact members 20 and 2| respectively having the larger diameter, and they do not contact with the portion of the periphery of the contact members 2| and 2| having a reduced periphery.

Alternatively of course, the portion of the contact members having the reduced diameter might be provided with a filler of insulating material (not shown).

The contact members 2| and 2| are in electrical contact with one another so that when both engage the contact fingers 22 and 24 a circuit is Terminals 36 and 31 are provided on the contact fingers 32 and 34, respectively, to which may be connected electric wires 3| and 2|. A fuse may be inserted in the circuit. A plug II for connecting a lighting or heating device in the circuit is provided.

To eifect a rapid making of contact a pin ll of insulating material may be provided extending from the periphery of the contact member 2|, whereby the contact finger 2| is raised slightly and then permitted to drop comparatively rapidly into contact with the periphery of the contact member 2| thus providing a quick make and minimizing arcing. (See Fig. '7.)

To effect a rapid and clean breaking of contact the periphery of the contact member 2| may be undercut (see Figs. 5 and 6).

A better contact with less friction may be obtained by forming a groove in the periphery of the contact members and providing a wheel in the ends of the contact fingers as illustrated in Fig. 8. The undercut periphery of the contact member 20 as described in the next preceding paragraph is particularly useful in combination with the construction of contact fingers and contact members described in this paragraph.

A suitable insulated cover 42 (illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 1) may be provided to cover the contacts.

The device illustrated is so constructed that the longest period that the circuit can be closed is twelve hours, but it is obvious that the construction can be varied to provide for closing the circuit for a period up to twenty-four hours.

To use the device, the dial 2| is first set to agree with the actual time of the clock. This may be done by loosening the nut 2| and rotating the dial so that the position of the numbers on the dial corresponds with the position of the hour hand on the clock (not shown). A convenient method of setting is to move the hands of the clock by means of the setting shaft H to twelve o'clock noon and set the dial 2| with the numeral The conrepresenting twelve o'clock directly above the axis oftheshaft l'l,asshownin!ig.l. Thedial canthenbesecuredfromrotationbyscrewing downthenut2|andtheclockcanthenbeset totheactualtimeandthediaiwillmoveinunisontherewith.

Tosetthetimeswitchtothedesiredtimefor making and breaking the contact the pointers ||and|l aremovedtopointtothedeairedtlme onthediaLcarebeingtakentosetthetimeswitch sothattheperiodforwhichthecircuitismade is notmore than twelvehours.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. Atime switch, compridng timeclock mechanism; a pair of electrically camected cam-like contact members continuously rotatable by the clock mechanism and adJustable relative to one.

another; and a pair of contact fingers each adaptedtobeengagedbytheperipheryofoneofsaid contact members during a part only of their rotary movement.

2. Atime switch, comprising time clock mechanism,adiscrotatablebytheclockmechanism; a dial associated with the disc, bearing time indicia; a pair of electrically connected cam-like contact members continuously rotatable with the said disc and adjustable relative thereto to respectively make and break a circuit at predetermined times as designated on the dial; and a pair of contact .fingers each adaptedtobecnsasedbythe periphery of one of said contact members during a part only of their rotary movement.

3. A time switch comprising time clock mechanism; a disc continuously rotatable by the clock mechanism a make contact member: a break contact member, said contact members being in frictional engagement with one another and the disc whereby they normally rotate with the disc but may be manually rotated relative to each other and the disc for time adjustment; and a pair of contact fingers, one of which is engaged by the periphery of the make contact member through part of its rotary movement and the other of which is engaged by the "break" contact member through part of its rotary movement, whereby when both fingers are simultaneously engaged by the contact members the circuit is made and when one of them is out of engagement with its corresponding contact member the circuit is broken.

4. A time switch comprising clock mechanism, including a spindle which rotates once in a predetermined period of time such as the centre arbor; a shaft; a disc rotatably mounted on the shaft; two cam-like contact members rotatably moimted on the shaft; a dial bearing time indicia molmted on the shaft and fixed relative to the disc; a spring tending to retain the contact members in frictional engagement with each other and the disc whereby they normally rotate with the disc and the dial but are adjustable relative thereto; a pointer connected to each of the contact members and adapted to point to time indicia on the dial, the disc being so geared and the dial so calibrated and set that when the pointer on one of the contact members points to a selected time on the dial the circuit will make at that time and when the pointer of the other contact member points to a selected time the circuit will break 'at that time; and two contact fingers each adapted to engage the raised portion of the periphery of each contact member as it rotates.

5. A time switch comprising clock mechanism, acasingforsaidclockmechanism; anhourhand spindle extending through the casing; a plate; fingers on the plate adapted to detachably engage the casing of the clock mechanism; an opening in the casing; a pinion adapted to be mounted on the hour hand spindle and extend'through the opening in the casing; a shaft on the casing; a

geared disc 'onthe shaft meshing with the pinion on the hour hand spindle; contact members mounted on the shaft and rotatable with the disc; and contact fingers adapted to be engaged by the said contact members.

6. A time switch, comprising timeclock mechanism, including a centre arbor, a pinion on the centre arbor; a geared disc meshing with and rotatable by the pinion; a dial rotatable with and in fixed relation to the disc and bearing time indicia thereon; two cam-like contact members normally rotatable with the disc but adiustable relative thereto and to the dial; means on the contact members for adjusting their position relative to the time indicia on the dial to set the contact members respectively for the time desired for making and breaking the circuit; and contact fingers adapted to engage the said contact members during a part only of their rotary movement.

JAMES McCARROL. LEONARD K. CEESWRIGHT. 

